


An Observational Study on the Habits of Woodland Elves: Volume II

by japansace



Series: My Love, We Deserve the Softest Eternity [18]
Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: + magic, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Elves, Intersex Elves, King Victor Nikiforov, M/M, Mpreg, Prince Yuri Plisetsky, Queen Yuuri Katsuki, Trans Character, i've said it before and i'll say it again: elves really couldn't give less of a frick about gender
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-03
Updated: 2020-09-03
Packaged: 2021-03-06 22:08:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,923
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26266252
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/japansace/pseuds/japansace
Summary: It feels surreal to be back—to beinvitedback, of all things—this time as honored guests.
Relationships: Katsuki Yuuri/Victor Nikiforov
Series: My Love, We Deserve the Softest Eternity [18]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1133426
Comments: 55
Kudos: 199





	An Observational Study on the Habits of Woodland Elves: Volume II

**Author's Note:**

> I love this series within a series, because I don't have to think up new titles, lol.
> 
> Ages:
> 
> Victor: 4781  
> Yuuri: 4741  
> Yuri: 516  
> 

_Day Two of Our Return to Woodland:_

_It feels surreal to be back—to be_ invited _back, of all things—this time as honored guests._

_My last memory of the monarchs still looms so stark and fresh over my mind, it may have well been yesterday: Prince Leo and company returning from battle, Queen Yuuri’s figure rounded out with child, Prince Yuri running across the courtyard into his mother’s arms to the utter shock and awe of the other members of the party. Jean Jacques’s jaw had dropped—and something foolish no doubt was sure to follow such an event—but Otabek merely covered his mouth before certain disaster could occur, as though he somehow knew all along._

_Now we return to Woodland, more assured in our place here and this time without the threat of potential war._

_The mood is lively; center square is being made ready for the festival even as I write. I haven’t yet seen His Majesties at all, this time around. Yuri met us at the door, with not much to offer as for an excuse. He merely mumbled that his mother was “tired,” but that we would surely see him shortly—and if not shortly, then at the festival for sure._

_I worry about him—about his health, I mean. Perhaps that’s silly of me: to worry after the wellbeing of an elf. But King Victor’s words still linger loudly in my mind: of how the hardest parts of elven pregnancies are at "the beginning and the end." And while the denizens of Woodland are rather avoidant regarding the exact time in which their queen is due, I can do math well enough. By my estimations, the birth should only be a mere week or so away—assuming the baby, of course, cooperates._

_I wonder how he looks now, fully ripe with child. Beautiful, I imagine. It may be hard to look at him directly, when we finally catch a glimpse._

A few more days follow, in which neither hide nor hair of either of His Majesties is seen. Minami spends many hours loitering in the library, pouring over Woodlandian maps; and when he isn’t doing that, he and his compatriots play cards or throw dice, to pass the time. Otabek disappears from the party entirely, his experience in Woodland quickly transforming into a mentorship of sorts, with how he follows Prince Yuri around. Minami wonders how and when they got so close—and to what end. Surely Yuri—surly character that he is—wouldn’t find much interest in a mere dwarf. And yet, even as time passes, Minami finds that he seems to tolerate Otabek’s presence just fine.  
  
And well, he supposes, stranger things have happened.

Minami finds himself days later beside a public bathing pool, in the guest quarters of castle. His muscles still ache something awful from travel; and with Woodland’s easy accessibility to fire talents, he has no qualms about taking well advantage of all the warm water they have readily on hand.

It’s just when he begins to undress himself—undoing his wrappings—that the door opens, admitting another person into the chamber.

“Excuse me—? Oh, Minami, it’s you!”

Minami drops a wrapping, from numbed fingers.

Because it’s Queen Yuuri, and he is _resplendent:_ glowing with new life, skin a healthy tan despite a thin layer of perspirant, stomach at a perfect fullness that’s most becoming of him. His hair is long and he wears not but a silk robe—far less extravagant than Minami has seen him in, previously—but fitting for his state, soft against a body that is no doubt stretched to its absolute limits.

“I was looking for Yuri. I thought he might be here with Otabek, but—” Yuuri stops, all at once, with a single blink. His eyes shift from Minami’s face to his chest; and immediately Minami is scrabbling for his shirt upon the floor, to cover himself up. “Oh, I see.” Minami braces himself, for the blow. “You’re twice-blessed.”

It’s Minami’s turn to blink. “’Twice-blessed’?”

“Yes.” Yuuri folds his hands under the curve of his stomach, with such a look of compassion that Minami nearly bursts into tears, right then and there. “That’s what we call it in elven culture: a person who was born one gender but then goes on to be another.” He tilts his head, thoughtfully. “It’s a very respectable position here—enviable, really. To have perspective on two ways of being… It’s viewed as a mark of great wisdom.”

Minami’s throat tightens, in an effort not to fall to pieces before royalty. “Most humans are repulsed by it. It’s shameful—and some even lose friends and family over it.”

“Oh my.” The queen looks as though he might cry in Minami’s stead. “How dreadful.”

Minami straightens, dropping his shirt away from his chest in increments. “Is that what you are? You know…” He gestures at Yuuri’s stomach. “’Twice-blessed’?”

“Oh—oh, no. I’m sorry to disappoint.” The queen’s lip quivers at this, with the force of his sympathy. “I’m merely borrowing this form to bear Victor’s and my child.”

“Elves can _do that?”_

“Why, of course.” Yuuri pouts. “Many other creatures do it. Birds, fish, certain amphibians… Did you really not know?”

Of course Minami did not know. He mentally bookmarks the library in his mind, to go back there again but this time pore over their zoology section instead.

So involved is he in this line of thinking, in fact, that he ends up not responding to Yuuri’s query entirely.

(But apparently his face conveys the answer well enough.)

The queen hums, in consideration. “Ah, Minami,” he starts, “if you’re not _entirely_ set upon bathing… I could show you something you may find enlightening.”

Not even the gods coming down to earth in plain flesh and blood could draw Minami away from His Majesty, then.

He redresses and follows Yuuri out of the palace, into the town proper. The final arrangements are being made for the festival, even as they walk; elves come out from their homes and shops to praise their queen, run fingers over him like a well-loved pet. Minami supposes this is what King Victor meant all those months ago, when he claimed all elves were inherently predisposed to caring after one of their own when they were expecting. Yuuri, for his part, takes it all in stride: smiling, laughing, giving out his fair share of comments and caresses. He’s not viewed as “different” here for bearing a child as a man.

It makes Minami’s heart ache in his chest something fierce.

“Here we are,” Yuuri says, before Minami can properly spiral. He’s stopped them before a shop—a fabrics shop to be more precise, with textiles of every make and color in the window. “Come, let me introduce you.”

He takes Minami into the store, where they’re greeted by a couple: a foliage talent and a water talent, he’s told. They work together to make the finest wears in the land; one grows the plants for the materials, while the other dyes them in colorants. And—as Yuuri tells them—both were born a different sex than the one they chose later in life.

“I didn’t change until I was over two thousand!” one laughs, over a cup of tea. “These things, they tend to sneak up on you, you know?”

The other draws a measuring device across Minami’s chest. “These clothes you have on just won’t do at all. The fit isn’t correct… Hold on to this a moment, won’t you? I’ll get you better wrappings in the meantime, and then we’ll see to your measurements all over and set you up with some custom pieces, free of charge.”

Minami holds the tape to his chest, as the elf retreats towards the back of the shop in her search. “You would… You would do that for me?”

“Of course!” she calls. “We’ll move you up to the top of the priority list, right after His Majesty himself!”

Minami really does cry then.

The couple gifts him with a binding made of flexible material, said to be formed through the burning of coal at extremely high temperatures. They trade often with fire and animal talents, the fabric sellers tell him: those who can worm silk out of creatures and control heat to form all kinds of unique resources.

Minami has never felt so comfortable in wrapping, found it so easy to breathe. It’ll certainly increase his stamina on the road, which he thinks is the best benefit among them all.

He hugs every elf in attendance by the end of the fitting—and Queen Yuuri twice, just for good measure.

* * *

INTERVIEWER: Then are we all clear on the logistics of this?

KING VICTOR: I suppose so—though I must reiterate: We have a right to review this document and strike anything from the record we do not approve of.

INTERVIEWER: Of course.

QUEEN YUURI: I think this is a wonderful idea, Minami. Go on, ask away.

I: Right. (clears throat) So then, to start— (I lean in, for dramatic effect.) —I have to ask a burning question I’ve been wanting to know the answer to forever now.  
  
QY: Yes?

I: Can elves— (I pause again, for dramatics.) —move their ears, like cats?

QY: (outwardly stunned) No…? No, I don’t think so.

KV: I can.

I and QY: What?

KV: Yes—just a little. Watch. (He pulls back his hair, to fully reveal an ear. The muscles in his jaw tense, then his ear wiggles.)

QY: That’s amazing! (He leans over, to draw his head against the other’s arm.) Thousands of years I’ve known you, and yet I find more things to love each day!

KV: (laughs, fondly)

I: Ah, while we’re on the subject… how did you two meet?

QY: It was not very romantic—

KV: It was _very_ romantic—

(Interviewer’s note: They say these things at the same time.)

KV: We met at a ball, when we were quite young.

I: How young?

KV: I think I’d just turned eight hundred…? Yuuri was forty years younger.

I: I see…

KV: My darling Yuuri was the life of the party.

QY: I was _not._

KV: Well if not that, then the loveliest in attendance.

QY: _Your Highness_ was the loveliest.

I: Wait, you were not royalty yourself?

QY: Not initially, no. I was just a humble ~~mind talent~~ (edit: elf) from Sealand, with no titles.

I: Was it love at first sight?

~~QY: Shall we tell him how we thought ourselves Goddess’s Intended?~~

~~KV: Perhaps we should keep that to ourselves.~~

QY: It was mutual admiration—as close as you can get to love initially, I think.

KV: I saw my future queen in him right away.

QY: Vit _ya._

KV: I shall not apologize for having good taste.

I: Let’s talk about the baby.

KV: Tread lightly.

I: (I pause, to collect myself.) Are you hoping for a boy? A girl?

QY: You humans are so funny about these things.

I: Any names picked out?  
  
KV: No comment.

I: I… see. Anything you’re _willing_ to share?

KV: (considers) We have the nursery set up.

QY: Oh, it’s _lovely._ I’ll have to show you, Minami! We themed it after the night sky, so there’s star patterns painted all over the walls. Vitya is a _lovely_ painter.

KV: (with a bit of a red face) Starlight—

QY: And he’s stocked the room with all kinds of books! I hope our little one is as voracious a reader as their father.

I: You read a lot, Your Majesty?

KV: When I can.

QY: My Vitya is talented in _all aspects_. If the goddess is at all just in her ways, she will model our child exactly after him.

KV: And what if I want them to take after you instead?

QY: (in a whine) But _Vitya._

KV: But nothing, my dear.

(This conversation goes on for a long while. The interviewer will spare you the details.)

* * *

The day of the festival arrives, and it is _glorious._ The air is teeming with the scent of early spring; exotic foods are spread out, as well as handcrafted curios. The dwarves and Minami wander the grounds first together, then separate into factions, as the festivities go on. Water and ice talents demonstrate their abilities, creating elaborate shows with their powers above the square: water taking the forms of dragons; snow flittering down in soft flecks that reflect the light in rainbow patterns upon the forest floor. Minami opens his palms to the elements, watching them disperse, sweat upon his hands. He’s lucky to witness such a thing, he thinks; most mortals can’t even claim to have _seen_ an elf, let alone befriended an entire elven kingdom.

In the center, the king and queen take in the celebration as well—albeit at a slower pace. Yuuri is dressed comfortably once more, though of course retains a certain effortless charm. Someone—the king, most likely—has folded a silver comb with hanging morganite like soft pink petals into the hair behind his ear, and it’s all Minami can do not to gape like a fish at the sight. Victor dresses accordingly, in pastel colors to match his partner and with silvery accents woven into his braid.

Circling around them as they walk are the dogs Minami have become so familiar with. Yuri has filled him in: They’re hunting dogs by breed but docile as sheep. The king and queen have kept up their pack for millennia now, and each reiteration of them has them becoming more loyal than the last. The way Yuri tells it, they wouldn’t so much as brush up against him too firmly as a child, but they were also well prepared to tear the still-beating heart out of a stranger’s chest if one were to approach their masters with ill intent.

Minami both fears and respects them.

The festival winds down, as the sun makes its descent. No formal announcement is made that an important ceremony is set to go on at the end, but Minami finds himself drawn into it regardless, as a crowd begins to form. He struggles to get a glimpse over the heads of elves: naturally taller beings than him, even if he _was_ an average height, which he is _not._ One elf recognizes his struggling and lifts him up onto their shoulders, which is all at the same time embarrassing but also extremely helpful.

It’s how he gets a good look, when King Victor takes a knee before Queen Yuuri and begins to procure something shiny out of his pocket.

It almost looks like a human marriage proposal, but no, that can’t be right. And it’s confirmed that it’s not when Victor hands the object over to Yuuri: very clearly a polished blue-purple alexandrite, wrapped in silver filigree complete with accompanying silver cord. Yuuri gasps—not in shock of receiving it but in awe of its quality—and holds it to his chest, with eyes full of unshed tears.

“What is it?” Minami whispers, to the elf holding him.

“A betrothal necklace,” they say.

“But they’re already—”

“Not for him. For the child.”

Minami tilts his head, in utmost confusion.

“It’s our custom, amongst elves: for the father to procure a betrothal necklace for the mother. Then the mother gives it to the baby when the baby is born.”

“Why?”

“To carry it, until they find their Goddess’s Intended.”

It’s the second time Minami has heard the phrase in a such a short period—the instance before being when he was forced to omit it from his manuscript, of course. Despite not knowing its implicit meaning, he gets the gist well enough from context clues alone: a soulmate, he supposes, the mortal term would be. Someone you would want to spend the rest of your life with.

Or for elves: the rest of your eternity with.

“His Majesty received it from Prince Leo, just the other day.”

“Oh, is that why we were invited?” Minami doesn’t mean to say it aloud.

“He didn’t want to travel for it, if he didn’t have to.”

“Why?”

The elf sets his stare upon the ground; Minami adjusts, in so as not to fall. “Bad memories.”

Minami doesn’t think he’s going to get any more from the elf, after that.

* * *

_… on the topic of betrothal necklaces, this is what I have gathered thus far: The gemstone required is not uniform. Queen Yuuri has a garnet; King Victor, a sapphire; and after much cajoling, I found Prince Yuri to have an obsidian. Early findings seem to indicate the giver of the necklace tries to search out the rarest and most beautiful gem to give to the receiver in the time they have allotted before the child is set to arrive. More speculation on this later._

Minami flicks the page over, to a new one.

_By my account, the king and queen’s child is set to arrive—_

Minami stops. Considers. Flips back through the notebook for the time in which he had speculated before and crosses it out, in thick, black lines. Then he rips the page out he had just begun, crossing the room over to the hearth and dropping it in with the kindling.

Sits before the fire cross-legged and watches it burn.

He is a mortal entrusted with precious knowledge—ancient elven knowledge, in which few others ever get so much as a glimpse. “Tentative trust,” the king had told him.

And he will not be betraying it.

**Author's Note:**

> Seriously, look up alexandrite. It is the Stammi Vicino Duet of gemstones.
> 
> Next! Installment! Is! BABY! Get ready~


End file.
